16 replies to this topic

[Grubozaboyschikov]

Does anyone know where Fleming picked this name?

The point is that there is no such name in Russia, but (!) it make sense and gives the impression that the person who invented it knew the language and meant it to sound funny. It

[Qwerty]

I've always liked the name though. The character himself is perhaps, in my opinion, one of the least known in the Ian Fleming James Bond books. It's a very interesting name, one you can memerize if you break it up at first when reading it.

Why he chose it I am not sure, you could be right with your thoughts on it though.

[Blofeld's Cat]

Does anyone know where Fleming picked this name?

The point is that there is no such name in Russia, but (!) it make sense and gives the impression that the person who invented it knew the language and meant it to sound funny.

So why do you call yourself by that name General G.?

I don't have the book handy at the moment, but doesn't Fleming say in the "Author's Note" that General G. was a real person who had that name?

[Qwerty]

Does anyone know where Fleming picked this name?

The point is that there is no such name in Russia, but (!) it make sense and gives the impression that the person who invented it knew the language and meant it to sound funny.

So why do you call yourself by that name General G.?

I don't have the book handy at the moment, but doesn't Fleming say in the "Author's Note" that General G. was a real person who had that name?

I believe so.

[Grubozaboyschikov]

I call myself this name because I like the way it sounds:)

As for a real person... well, throughout his books Fleming indeed uses some names of several real KGB persons, like Serov and Semichastny. But mind you, SMERSH ceased to exist in 1946, long before Stalin died and Beria was arrested. Hence Fleming's SMERSH is as fictitious as his SPECTRE. So is the person of Grubozaboyschikov.

[Blofeld's Cat]

From the "Author's Note".....

....At the begining of 1956, when this book was written, the strength of SMERSH at home and abroad was about 40,000 and General Grubozaboyschikov was it's chief. My descrition of his appearence is correct....

If SMERSH no longer existed at that time I guess Gen. G may not have either and the "Author's Note" was created to lend the air of authenticity to the story in the novel.

Much like the reasoning behind Michael Crichton's use of a ficticious bibliography at the back of most of his novels.

[Qwerty]

I call myself this name because I like the way it sounds:)

As for a real person... well, throughout his books Fleming indeed uses some names of several real KGB persons, like Serov and Semichastny. But mind you, SMERSH ceased to exist in 1946, long before Stalin died and Beria was arrested. Hence Fleming's SMERSH is as fictitious as his SPECTRE. So is the person of Grubozaboyschikov.

Interesting, as shown by the actual quote from it, that Blofeld's Cat just put up. I would have though Fleming wouldn't have worded it to appear as so then, since this was the real case of SMERSH then, and in turn, Grubozaboyschikov being as fake as Blofeld.

[Grubozaboyschikov]

If SMERSH no longer existed at that time I guess Gen. G may not have either and the "Author's Note" was created to lend the air of authenticity to the story in the novel.

Much like the reasoning behind Michael Crichton's use of a ficticious bibliography at the back of most of his novels.

Of course! But where did Fleming pick the name. As far as I can remember it isn't said either in Pearson's or in Lycetts' books:( The historians of Fleming's life takes this matter for granted, while knowing the origins of Scaramanga's and Goldfinger's names, for instance.

[Blofeld's Cat]

OK, so what real Russian name comes close to sounding like it then?

Could it be an amalgamation of two or more Russian names?

Could it be an anagram? Hmm....

Could it be a name from one of the satellite states within the Union of that time?

[Qwerty]

Could it be an amalgamation of two or more Russian names?

Could it be an anagram? Hmm....

I think so maybe. It's one of the most different names Fleming chose.

[Max Zorin]

And more importantly, why hasn't he appeared in any of the films?

[Krilencu]

I laughed my @$$ off when I first read his name.
Also his "Yeb-Yonna Mat" line is a classic, but I don't dare translate it into English here.

[B007GLE]

Krilencu give us a hint.

[Triton]

I was going to guess that the character was named for the October 12, 1960 incident in which Nikita Krushchev pounded his shoe on the table at the United Nations until I realized that Fleming's novel predates the incident by two years.

I would presume that it is a satirical reference to a person or an event. Could Ian Fleming have witnessed something that inspired the name while he was Moscow correspondent for Reuters from 1929 to 1933 or in the spring of 1939 as special Moscow correspondent for the London Times?

[Spoon]

Just seems like a generic "tough guy" name to me. I don't think it needs to be tied to a particular person or event; the connotation of danger/sadism/etc. in the name's meaning is clear.

[Grubozaboyschikov]

The point is, it's quite a task for a foreigner to invent a name which could sound funny and plausible to a native speaker.

[Atticus17F]

The point is, it's quite a task for a foreigner to invent a name which could sound funny and plausible to a native speaker.

If, as you say, no such name exists in real life, then it's a safe bet that Fleming was just having a laugh, as he did with most of his characters' names. He was fluent in Russian so he must've known it's literal translation.